Afghanistan’s displaced people: 2014 and beyond

FMR
46

May 2014

2014 is widely seen as marking a watershed for Afghanistan with its legacy of 35 years of conflict and one of the world’s largest populations in protracted displacement. International military forces are being withdrawn and the country is ‘in transition’, and there is still considerable uncertainty about the capacity of the country to address the challenges of return, integration and reintegration, protection, access to rights, and continuing displacement. FMR 46 contains 21 articles on Afghanistan, plus a mini-feature on Statelessness.

2014 marks a watershed for Afghanistan, with the withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) after twelve years, and the very real risks this withdrawal poses to the capacity of the Afghan state to meet the many internal and external challenges faced by the country. These challenges have significant implications for displaced and returning Afghans and for the potential for displacement in the future.

A group of people of nomadic lifestyle in eastern Afghanistan has reportedly recently been forcibly relocated because of their lack of identity documents: yet another cause of displacement in Afghanistan that requires a just and sustainable solution.

Developing a national policy to address the needs of Afghanistan’s IDPs was beset with obstacles and challenges. Although the IDP Policy is now a reality, its implementation is likely to meet challenges of a similar nature.

Providing a minimum standard of living and livelihood opportunities to help anchor those who have returned is critical for the future stability and security of Afghanistan. This is one of the three main objectives of the 2012 Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees.

The case of Maslakh in western Afghanistan is an example of translating Afghanistan’s new IDP Policy into reality. If successful the project will ensure security of land tenure for IDPs in urban settings and set a precedent for local integration of IDPs across Afghanistan, a highly contentious and politicised issue thus far.

In preparation for 2014 and the impact of ‘transition’ in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s new National Refugee Policy tries to address both the uncertainties and the realities facing Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Given that the majority of Afghans who live in Pakistan today are unlikely to return to Afghanistan, more needs to be done to address their vulnerabilities and protect them from harassment and violence.

Understanding the factors that have an impact on refugee decision making about return and people’s ability to reintegrate following return is critical in planning appropriate pre- and post-return programmes for Afghan refugees in Iran.

Afghan returnees from industrialised countries are expected to contribute to development and peace building in Afghanistan. However, which category of returnee is expected to bring what kind of change often remains under-defined.

Displaced young people in Kabul are waiting to see what the coming year brings for Afghanistan before making a decision as whether to move on again. This provides a window of opportunity to develop youth-sensitive programming.

Growing numbers of IDPs live in informal settlements in major Afghan urban centres but the ways in which displaced young women and girls are vulnerable in such settings are not well enough understood or addressed.

There is currently much evidence pointing to another wave of displacement likely to occur in Afghanistan. Ignoring these early warning signs and failing to act may mean paying a higher price in the future, both financially and in human terms.

Afghanistan in 2014 will experience a combination of security, political and economic ‘transitions’, the responses to which will be fundamental in determining the extent of any further displacement of Afghan people over the coming years.

The 60th anniversary of the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons is an opportunity to draw attention to the human face of statelessness, and to increase awareness of the impact of this issue on both the lives of individuals and societies more broadly.

A recent Constitutional Tribunal decision in the Dominican Republic, if implemented as drafted, will leave thousands of Dominicans stateless and send a lesson to other states that mass arbitrary denationalisations are acceptable as long as they are judicially mandated.

There are many stateless people in Europe who face human rights abuses every day, from destitution on the streets to long periods of immigration detention. These stories come from the European Network on Statelessness.

Exploring the interconnections between statelessness and discrimination offers useful insight into the multiple vulnerabilities associated with statelessness and provides a framework through which these vulnerabilities can be addressed.

Amal de Chickera and Joanna Whiteman

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